A DREAMWORLD BETWEEN COMPULSION AND IDYLL
«Here roars nature», Gustav Mahler is supposed to have said of
the distinctive tenor horn solo at the start of his Seventh
Symphony. This monumental work summarises the composer’s
previously developed symphonic cosmos in grand style: with
sounds of twilight and the gloaming. And that’s not just because
movements two and four bear the title «Nachtmusik» (night
music) – even the first movement creates a dreamworld between
compulsion and idyll. In the scherzo, ghostly shadows dance a
sometimes grotesquely tattered waltz. But the finale celebrates
the bright day in the form of a barnstorming country fair: this
calls for the masterful touch of Music Director Yutaka Sado!
Under his baton the Tonkunstler Orchestra performed this
concert-filling piece in February 2023 in the Wiener Musikverein.
As a Viennese orchestra with a musical tradition dating back over
a century, the Tonkunstler Orchestra, like Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra, plays Viennese instruments. Gustav Mahler too led a
life closely associated with Vienna. He conducted the premiere
of his Seventh Symphony on 19 September 1908 – though not in
Vienna but in Prague.
Extra material for download
